Love Comes Softly
by SareerMalfoy
Summary: She had whispered one last thing before she had fallen asleep in his arms as he carried her back to the Great Hall. "Do you think that everyone gets that kind of love?"
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! So this is my second story and, as you will realize, it is AU. I've created my own character, Leena Lightle (LEE-na Lite-ly), and added her to the wonderful world of Harry Potter. For anyone who has read my other story, The Giggling, I know the name is the same as the OC in that drabble but the characters themselves are different. I just liked the name, so I used it again in this story. For those of you who have not read my other story, please feel free to do so! I would love your feedback on both :)

This is not a Draco/Ginny fic like my other story, though they are a minor pairing. It is actually a Charlie Weasley/OC fic, the other character being the aforementioned Leena Lightle. I've always loved the character of Charlie Weasley even thought we don't know all that much about him (perhaps _because_ we don't know much about him) and I'm exploring what kind of character I think he would have been like.

I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I am working on the second chapter right now, so please review and let me know if you all like it and if I should keep going. Thank you so much in advance! Well, cheers!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any character, place, or event of the Harry Potter series. Only Leena Lightle and the plot belong to me. The rest are creations of the wonderful mind of J.K. Rowling, to whom I owe my childhood and will always be indebted.

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><p><strong>Love Comes Softly<strong>

**Chapter One**

Charlie Weasley sighed into the cold night air. He watched the puff of white breath dissipate into the brisk December darkness before turning away and ambling down the road. The street was lit with decorations and the Christmas season permeated the atmosphere of the small village. Lights flooded out of the windows of the shops and music sounded in the air every time a door opened.

Charlie had always been fond of the small, sleepy town that made its home under the protective shadow of the school he had attended for seven years. Being of a laid back and relaxed nature himself, Hogsmeade fit well for the redhead's personality and he preferred the cobblestone streets and friendly townspeople to the chaos of Diagon Alley any day. Walking down the familiar road Charlie let his thoughts wander.

Christmas was a time for family and friends and Charlie Weasley made it a point to spend the holiday with his family every year. Romania was a long way from home and his job as a dragon handler didn't allow for too much time off. He didn't get to see his family as often as he would have liked; hence, the three week vacation he requested each year to go home and celebrate with his family.

Charlie had arrived home via portkey amid a flurry of smoke (from the dragons he left behind) and snow (that had accumulated in the Burrow's front yard) on the tenth of the month and wasn't due back to the reserve until the third of January. Christmas was only a few days away—six, to be exact—and Charlie had just finished buying his last gifts. Glancing down at the shrunken bags in his pockets the second eldest Weasley once again hoped his choices would be well received.

His first stop had been to pick up Ginny's gift. Anyone who knew Charlie even the slightest knew the enormous soft spot the stocky man held for his only and favorite little sister. When she was little, Charlie had been Ginny's best friend. A few years after successfully delivering the first Weasley girl in seven generations, Molly Weasley had fallen sick and Arthur Weasley refused to leave his wife's side for even a minute. The responsibility of the younger kids had fallen to a then fourteen year old Bill and thirteen year old Charlie. Ginny had been three at the time and, since Bill was busy keeping Fred and George from burning the house down and Ron from getting bitten by a gnome, taking care of her had been Charlie's job (Percy just sat in his room, reading his books). He had been apprehensive at first; for all his talents, Charlie was still a boy and hadn't the slightest clue as to what Ginny would be like to actually take care of instead of the occasional playing that he had always indulged her with before. As he found out, it wasn't all that hard. All the youngest Weasley wanted or needed was to be included. Taking care of Ginny had turned out to be a breeze—_much_ easier than Bill's load—and the relationship that blossomed was one that Charlie treasured.

After that summer, Ginny and Charlie had a connection that never faded with time or distance. It was Charlie who had wound Ginny's long, scarlet hair into braids and ponytails; Charlie who lifted Ginny up and gave her a view of the world from his shoulders; Charlie who taught her to swim in the pond behind the house; Charlie who had broken laws and risked his life by apparating internationally when he heard that she was in the hospital wing after her first year; Charlie who had wiped away her tears of guilt and pain; Charlie who had slept on the floor of her room every night the summer after, and Charlie who had promised her that nothing would ever, _ever_, hurt her again.

He remembered her now, wide eyed and scared about going back to Hogwarts in September. It was then that he had gone to the small shop down the street from the Three Broomsticks and gotten the bracelet that had graced Ginny's wrist for nearly eleven years. A Wingham original, the charm bracelet had been a way to allay the small redhead's fear and to let her know that he would always be there for her. He recalled the relief in her eyes when he explained to her that the silver trinket would grow warm whenever he was thinking of her. As the years had passed, Charlie had added new charms to the bracelet on every birthday and Christmas. The charm that he had just picked up was a small heart with the words "My Little Dragonfire" inscribed on it, which was the nickname he had used for her since she had been little. He loved Ginny as only an older brother could and he hoped that her future would be bright and filled with happiness.

Charlie chuckled at the thought that her future would most likely also include Malfoys.

His second stop had been to pick up the quidditch kit he had specially ordered for Ginny's long-time boyfriend, Draco Malfoy. The grin on his face grew wider as he thought of the first time the family had seen Ginny and Draco together. As he was engrossed in thought, he didn't notice the group of girls walking past him that giggled and hid smiles behind their hands as they looked upon his rugged good looks that were only enhanced by his far off grin.

Draco and Ginny had apparently become friends through a mutual detention they had had together with Snape in Ginny's fifth year. By _friends_, they meant that they had a grudging respect for each other and the verbal spars in the hall went from being tear-the-other's-reputation-apart time to playful banter between two acquaintances. It was because of Ginny and her friendship that Draco did not comply with the Death Eaters plot to enter the school and kill the headmaster. He turned to Dumbledore himself and asked to help protect his fellow classmates. The next year when Voldemort truly rose to power, the Golden Trio—Harry, Hermione, and Ron—left the school in search of the horcruxes and the means to destroy the Dark Lord. Ginny was left behind and it was during this time when their relationship passed the line marked platonic.

When Charlie himself had first heard about the relationship, he was skeptical. A Malfoy? Malfoys didn't change, they were what they were born and raised to be. It was only the first time he _saw_ them together that the protective older brother had started to believe that maybe Draco Malfoy _was_ worthy enough for his sister, though that thought itself could not be attributed to him in any way.

No, that thought came from the reliable and constant source of all good information in his life, Ginny's best friend, Leena Lightle. Unbidden, a rueful smile spread across Charlie's face.

Leena.

There was absolutely no way to describe the girl—no woman—other than that she was a godsend. Leena Lightle and Ginevra Weasley had been the best of friends since they were twelve. The year after the Chamber incident, Leena had been the first person to talk to Ginny outside of her family. It was by seeing Leena interacting with Ginny that all the other students were able to get past the fact that she had been possessed by the worst Dark Lord in history.

Ginny and Leena, Charlie mused, somehow managed to be complete and total opposites while being exactly alike at the same time. Where Ginny had vibrant red hair and a smattering of freckles, Leena had long, midnight black locks that tumbled down around her unblemished pale face. Ginny darted around like a flame, quick and spritely, whereas Leena was graceful and sure in her actions, never making a movement that didn't seem intentional. Both girls were of the same height and build, though Leena was more slender than her best friend, which had made them one of the most formidable pair of chasers that the Hogwarts quidditch pitch had ever seen. Their eyes were both brown but Ginny's were a soft hazel that seemed warm and kind; Leena's were dark brown orbs that, though not _unkind_, seemed to be able to look into your very soul and recognize who you truly were. Her rosy lips were always ready to smile or laugh, though more often than not she was smirking.

Both girls were Slytherins in the noble house of Gryffindor and renowned for being untamable pranksters, the protégés of Fred and George Weasley. But above all, Leena and Ginny were arguably the two most important women in Charlie Weasley's life (well, besides his mother).

The first time he had seen her, Leena had been a small thirteen year old girl who had proudly declared herself his little sister's best friend when asked who she was. After that, the black-haired girl had always been in and out of the Weasley household, a welcome addition to the family. Throughout their years at Hogwarts, and even after, Leena had been a staple guest for Christmas, Easter, and summer, dropping in for Molly Weasley's famous food or looking for a place to crash for a few days while her Uncle was out of town.

Jonathan Lightle was a world famous wizarding photographer and Leena's only living relative. Being from an upstanding pureblood family, the Lightles had been very well off and her parents, who had died when she was very young, had left everything entrusted to her Uncle until Leena either turned twenty-six or married. So Leena had been raised by her father's brother, but as she grew older he was away more often for work and Leena had turned to her best friends' family who she knew would take her in with open arms.

All the Weasleys thought of Leena as family; Molly and Arthur considered her a second daughter and all the Weasley boys played with and teased her like a second sister. But even though Charlie had always known Leena the best out of all the Weasleys, excepting Ginny, he had never come to think of her as a sister, per say. She was family, of that there was no doubt, but she wasn't like Ginny was to Charlie. The feelings were…_different_. Shaking his head Charlie put that thought out of his mind. He had already pondered over it for years after he had realized it was _there_ during Leena's sixteenth birthday party, but to no avail. After a while he took to ignoring it, thinking it would make sense to him whenever it was meant to.

Thinking back, Charlie remembered the night of the Final Battle when Harry had finally defeated Voldemort. Charlie had been frantically searching the Great Hall for either Ginny or Leena and, unable to find them, had begun to scour the halls. It was then that he had come upon his little sister in the dungeons wrapped in the embrace of one Draco Malfoy. They had been down the hall and before Charlie had been able to make his presence known, a hand had shot out of an alcove and pulled him in. Turning around with his wand ready, Charlie had been shocked to see a dirty and tired Leena standing before him. She spoke before he could even blink.

"_Please let them be Charlie_," her voice was pleading and soft as to not alert the couple down the hall to their existence, "_she needs him_."

Charlie hadn't been able to say anything. He only saw the pain that was in Leena's eyes at that moment and, without thinking, took a step closer to her and wrapped her in his own embrace. Leena had immediately melted into him and let out a long suffering sigh that bespoke of horrors only one who had made it through that night could understand. Slowly her arms had come up around his neck and then she was clinging to him like he was a life raft in the middle of a vast ocean. Charlie had tightened his arms in response and held her, not saying anything, until she gradually released the pressure of her arms. Looking down at her face, Charlie had realized that he had never seen Leena that dirty and carefully began to remove the soot from her face with his sleeve. She bore his ministrations with grace and once he was done, he spoke.

"_Are you alright_?" His voice too had been soft and comforting. She had shuddered and then replied in a small voice.

"_I will be_."

It hurt Charlie to see someone he cared for so much in such a state, but especially because it was Leena. She had always been the strong one, the one who held everyone else up. Now she just seemed fragile and lost, like one breath would shatter her into pieces. As he watched her, he realized that she was still watching her best friend and the blonde boy she was with. Charlie too looked at them and saw something that he couldn't quite explain between them.

"_He loves her_." Leena had said. She had wrapped her arms around herself as if to ward off a chill as she glanced at Charlie.

"_He loves her and she loves him. I know they do. You can see it in their eyes_."

She was right, of course. As Charlie had looked at the two lovers standing in the hall he could see in their eyes that they were in love. His little sister was in love.

"_He doesn't deserve her, no one ever could. But, maybe one day, soon…he'll be worthy enough to keep her. I hope he is._"

After she had whispered this she had closed her eyes and leaned her head against Charlie's chest. Instinctively, he had once again wrapped his arms around her and they had stood there frozen for a long time. When Charlie's legs had begun to fall asleep, he had bent down and slid one arm behind her knees and one behind her back, picking her up as if she weighed no more than a doll. Leena did nothing to fight him and laid her head on his chest, eyes still closed. She had whispered one last thing before she had fallen asleep in his arms as he carried her back to the Great Hall.

"_Do you think that everyone gets that kind of love?_"

Charlie had not been able to respond then, or since. As he thought on her question, the present he had bought for Leena popped into his head. The necklace that he had gotten for her was simple yet elegant, not unlike the person it was for. The chain was made up of silver links so small it seemed like a seamless piece from afar. The pendent, also silver, was a small circular locket with flower designs along the edges. Inside, the pendent had the words "_J'aime et J'espere_" inscribed. "_I love and I hope_". He didn't know what made him pick that inscription when commissioning the exquisite piece of jewelry; it had felt right, so he had done it. Now he only hoped that she liked it as much as he thought she would.

Eyes finally focusing back on where exactly it was he was walking, Charlie saw the Three Broomsticks looming ahead of him. Contemplating a warm butterbeer at the raucous establishment before heading home, the redhead angled himself towards Honeydukes, his last stop, which was three stores down and across the street from Madame Rosmerta's bright smile.

As he turned to cross the street, two small boys, no more than seven, ran up from behind him chasing one another. The first one darted around Charlie screaming "You can't catch me!" to his friend behind him. The second boy was not as lucky as the first and bumped into Charlie's side on his way past, making him drop his wand which rolled away. A pang of annoyance went through Charlie before he remembered himself and his brothers doing the same when they were little. The annoyance left him at that thought. _Besides_, he contemplated, _it's_ _Christmas_. Turning back towards the Three Broomsticks, Charlie saw his wand had come to a stop near the side of the building.

Moving towards it, he bent to pick it up when something concealed in the shadow of the side of the shop _moved_ not two feet from him. More than a little alarmed, he quickly scooped up his wand and held it out in front of him. He heard a small whimper at his movement.

Apparently it was not some_thing_, but some_one_.

"_Lumos_." Light spilled out from his wand and he held it closer to the person cowering near the side wall.

"Excuse me, but are you alright?" The person, whoever it was, was half concealed in the shadow of the pub and Charlie couldn't see their face.

"Do you need help?" Charlie took a step closer and then crouched down in front of the person. When he did so he was able to discern the reason he could not see the stranger's face. They, _she_, had long black hair that tumbled down around her, effectively covering anything that could have identified her. She let out another small whimper and lifted her head a few inches above her lap.

Much later Charlie would fervently thank all the gods there were that those kids had run into him and made him drop his wand. For as her face lifted, Charlie froze; for he knew the girl. He would recognize those eyes, that face, _anywhere_. Eyes that looked broken, hurt, and shattered; eyes that had _never_ looked like that before. Through his incredulous surprise and immense worry, Charlie was able to breathe one word. A name.

_"Leena?" _


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hullo all! Well, I finally got the second chapter up! I apologize to those of you who have been waiting for this chapter. You know how life is, always getting in the way. This chapter is significantly longer than the first one, so hopefully that will make up for the wait. Just for clarification; the italicized sections in the second part of the chapter are flashbacks, in the first part they are mainly thoughts or just me emphasizing important words. Anywho, thank you to my one reviewer, Moonlit Lightning, for their wonderful feedback! Hopefully everyone else who is following this story or simply reading will leave a review for me this time around? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Well, cheers!

**Disclaimer: **The woman who owns Harry Potter and all its wonders is blonde and goes by the name Joanne Kathleen Rowling. I am not blonde, nor do I go by Joanne Kathleen Rowling, therefore I (sadly) do not own anything that has to do with Harry Potter and all its wonders.

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><p><strong>Love Comes Softly<strong>

**Chapter Two**

_Through his incredulous surprise and immense worry, Charlie was able to breathe one word. A name. _

_ "Leena?" _

As Charlie watched with growing dread, the girl flinched at the whisper. Her hand came up as if to cover her face. That was when he saw it; the small silver ring that sat on the girl's middle finger. It was a simple yet elegant piece of jewelry, only two bands overlapping one another all the way around. It was also the exact same ring Charlie had gotten both Leena and his sister two Christmases ago.

Charlie felt his heart sink like an anchor. The chances that this girl, who looked _exactly_ like Leena and had the same _ring_ as Leena, was _not_ Leena were slim to none.

"Charlie?" The voice that came from the girl was barely a whisper and broke in the middle of his name. _But it was his name. _

Looking down at the ground between his feet where he was crouching Charlie knew without a doubt that this was Leena. Despite the look in her eyes that had never been there before, this was Leena, _his_ Leena. And something horrible had happened that had put her there.

"Yeah Leens," his voice broke, "It's me."

He heard her sigh in relief and lifted his head once again to look at her. She was leaning back against the wall, eyes closed now, still slumped against the side, her arms wrapped around her legs. The first thing that Charlie immediately noticed was that, besides the look in her eyes, she appeared unharmed. The second was that her eyes were red-rimmed and her lips were tinged blue. The third, and most important, was that she was shivering. _Violently_. The bloody girl had come outside without a proper coat, scarf, or gloves.

Putting his wand between his teeth, Charlie quickly unbuttoned his thick grey coat and shrugged it off revealing an equally thick blue sweater underneath. Leaning forward Charlie slipped one arm behind Leena's back and moved her off the wall, draping the garment around her shoulders and pulling it closed in the front. It engulfed her small frame and she buried her face in the collar. It took him another full minute to be able to ask her anything.

"Leena, what are you _doing_ out here?"

Leena did not lift her head, only shook it from side to side, but Charlie understood what she was saying. _I can't talk about it right now. I just can't._

Taking a deep breath to control the anger that had begun to rise within him at seeing the black-haired girl in such a state, Charlie decided to address the most obvious problem first. He needed to get Leena out of the cold and near a fire. He himself was beginning to feel the biting chill, and his jacket had only been off for a few minutes. How long had Leena been out here for her to be shaking like a leaf?

"Come on, I'm going to take you home. We need to get you warm." As he said this, Charlie moved to Leena's side and prepared to pick her up. He was sliding his arm under her knee when her hand grasped his upper arm.

"Please, no. Not the Burrow. Just take me back to my flat. I can't go there…"

Charlie finished the sentence in his head for her. _I can't go there…not like this. _The pleading in her eyes and voice was enough for him to consent. He nodded his head once in agreement and she relaxed the hand that was on his arm, giving him her permission that he could now lift her up. In his mind, Charlie cursed whatever it was that had happened to make Leena think that she could not go to the Burrow.

Being a dragon handler was not an easy job and because of all the manual labor involved, Charlie had built up some very impressive muscles over the years. This made picking Leena, a slender and relatively light girl, up easier for Charlie than picking up two bags of dragon feed. Hoisting her up with him, Charlie stood and made sure his coat was still secure around his charge. He then lifted his wand as best as he could and apparated straight into Leena's flat.

The "flat" was more of a small penthouse than a normal flat. Charlie landed gracefully in the middle of Leena's living room as the wards had been changed right after she had bought it to allow any of the Weasleys entrance at any time. The usually cozy room was completely dark and still. Moving around the sofa, Charlie put Leena down in a seat and then proceeded to her fireplace—which thankfully, was enormous—and with a whispered "_Incendio_", had a roaring fire going within seconds. The red head closed his eyes at the welcome heat for a moment before turning around and traveling back to Leena. She was exactly where he had left her, still perched on the edge of the seat huddled into herself.

"Can you walk? We need to get you closer to the fire."

As Charlie watched, Leena tried to get her feet under her but her legs were still shaking too much for her to properly walk. Looking up at him, her expression told him everything. A small smile escaped Charlie's lips; she looked like a petulant child who had just found out someone had stolen their chocolate. Stowing his wand in his pocket, Charlie bent and snaked one arm around Leena's waist and lifted her into her feet. Her arm automatically came around his neck, and she grabbed a handful of his sweater to balance herself. Walking slowly, Charlie escorted the girl over to the floor in front of the fireplace. The heat had started to radiate out and as they got closer he could feel it. Once there, Leena literally collapsed in front of the warmth, making Charlie bend over so she wouldn't hit the wooden floors too hard.

Charlie began to take his arm away from her body when she spoke once more.

"Where are you going?" Her voice had gained some strength, though she sounded exhausted.

"I'm going to go floo Ginny. You need her." Leena's eyes went wide with panic and alarm.

"No! You can't! Please! Today is the first time all December that Gin and Draco have been able to be alone together. She's been looking forward to this night for ages Charlie! You can't pull her away! Not for me."

At this Charlie's anger resurfaced. "And for who, exactly, would she drop everything and come running if not for you?!"

At this Leena quieted. Charlie couldn't help but notice that the circles under her eyes became more pronounced. Sighing, his anger evaporated leaving only tiredness and concern in its place.

"Leena…she would want to know. She would want to be here for you."

At the sound of his soft voice, Leena closed her eyes. They remained there for some time, Leena on the floor and Charlie still half bent over. After a while the redhead opened his mouth to inquire again when the girl at his feet spoke.

"In the morning. I'll be better in the morning, and I'll floo Gin then, and…just…in the morning." Opening her eyes, Leena tipped her face up towards Charlie, her eyes beseeching in their plea.

He didn't know what to do; Leena had never, _never_, acted this way before, not once in all the nine years he had known her. She had _always_ called Ginny when anything happened. When she had bought herself a white cat and named it Merlyn, she had called Ginny. When Merlyn had tragically passed away four years later, she had called Ginny, tear tracks still fresh on her face. Whether good or bad or sad, Ginny had always been called. Charlie could not fathom why his little sister's best friend was refusing to admit that she needed her other half. Staring at her, Charlie knew she would never forgive him if he disobeyed her and flooed his sister.

"Fine. In the morning."

Abruptly, Charlie stood up straight and stalked away from the black haired girl. "_Fine_," he thought, "_if she doesn't want me to get Ginny, and she doesn't want to tell me what happened, and she doesn't—"_

"There's lemon tea in the cupboard above the stove." Leena's voice broke through Charlie's train of thought. Anger swelled inside the redhead. He froze mid-stride and spun around, his mouth open to heatedly retort that no, he was not stalking away angrily so he could make tea, and that the urge hadn't even come over him as of yet. But as the words began to form in his mind, he realized that to say any of that would be a complete lie. He _had_ subconsciously started for the kitchen, and he _did_ have a tendency to make tea whenever he felt frustrated. Snapping his mouth shut, he glared at the silhouette in front of the fire. He could see a small smile on her face. Turning back around, Charlie made his way to the kitchen. He really needed some tea.

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><p>Charlie set the kettle on the stove, cranking the heat up to high, letting the water come to a boil. As he poked his head around the corner of the kitchen for the hundredth time, he saw Leena sitting exactly where he had left her. Sighing, Charlie moved to lean against the counter, watching the kettle as it came to a boil, brooding. Unbidden, memories of the girl in the next room surfaced in his mind.<p>

_A lithe black-haired child came running through the house, chasing another red haired girl. Charlie smiled at his little sister and her best friend's antics. They came barreling through the living room where he sat with his older brother Bill. Both of them were home for two weeks to see how Ginny was doing after her second year of schooling (thought she didn't know that). _

_As the girls ran in laughing and shouting, Ginny collapsed on the armchair next to Bill still giggling. Leena followed suit, seating herself on the couch next to Charlie like she had been coming to the Burrow for years instead of having just arrived for the first time a week ago. Settling down, Bill began tickling Ginny next to him. Charlie watched as she squirmed, tears pouring down her face. His attention was diverted by laughing next to him. He turned to see Leena grinning at the pair of Weasleys across from them. As he watched the small girl, she turned towards him and their eyes met. Charlie opened his mouth to say thank you to Leena for saving his sister, for being her friend, but he couldn't get the words out. _

_As she watched him, Leena's eyes seemed to understand what he was attempting to say. Her smile softened, and as he watched, she scooted a little closer towards him. Smiling up, she put her hand into his larger one. Charlie glanced down at their intertwined fingers and then back up at her. He didn't know how, but he knew that she understood what he had wanted to tell her. Feeling a smile creep over his own face, he reached up and ruffled the girl's black locks, as he was wont to do with Ginny. She let out a soft giggle and turned back towards Bill and Ginny. _

_He watched her a moment longer before doing the same himself, and they sat there, hands still connected and laughed with their companions._

Charlie vaguely heard the kettle whistle blowing in the back of his mind and moved towards the cabinet with the tea, automatically taking it out and dumping in a spoonful, still lost in thought.

_A fourteen year-old Leena walked beside him in Hogsmeade, watching Ron and Ginny bickering ahead of them._

"_They never stop fighting, do they?" She laughed while sticking her hands into her pockets._

"_Nope. Everyone in Gryffindor Tower has gotten used to it by now. They all just leave when they start to go at it." _

_There was a beat of silence. _

"_Everyone? Even you?" Leena gave him a long sideways glance before focusing her attention on the two in front of them again._

"_No, I never leave. If I did, there would be no one to stop them from killing each other every week."_

_There was silence between them for a few moments. Then Charlie felt a hand on his arm, stopping him. He turned towards Leena, but she was still looking at Ginny who was getting father away from them._

"_I know you're still worried about her," her voice was soft, "But I won't leave her. I can't. I need her just as much as she needs me, if not more."_

_She turned towards him then, looking him straight in the eye. Charlie Weasley was overwhelmed at the sincerity in her eyes. The dark brown orbs were pleading with him to believe her, to accept her. _

_What she didn't know was that he already had._

"_I know. I know you'll never leave her. And I will be eternally grateful that she has someone like you."_

_ He offered her a small smile and her lips mirrored his. _

_ "Hey slowpokes! You both coming or what? It's freezing out here! Come on!"_

_ Both of them turned their heads at the sound of Ron's voice. He and Ginny had already reached their destination of the Three Broomsticks where Harry and Hermione had agreed to meet them, and were waiting with the door open. Ginny was looking at them, head tilted, one eyebrow raised in question._

_ "We're coming. Go on in." Leena faced him once again after the other two had gone inside. He rubbed his hands together before turning to her with a grin._

_ "Well my lady, may I escort you to our unruly companions?" _

_ He presented her with his arm for her to take, which she did so, laughing at his playfulness. They resumed their trek to the pub, simply enjoying each other's company. _

Charlie shook his head, marveling at the fact that the bulk of their friendship had begun after that moment. He reached up and took two of Leena's favorite mugs down, setting them on the counter. After that, numerous correspondences had been sent back and forth between the two; owls became so frequent between them that Ron started to jokingly complain that Charlie sent more to Leena than he did to him, and Ron was his brother.

_Dear Charlie,_

_ Your last letter was more singed than usual, but it's alright, I could make out your writing. Well, most of it. _

_ Anyway, Rosie sounds very interesting and fascinating…dragon like. I'm glad that you're making new friends, but really Charlie, when I asked if you had met anyone new, I was assuming you would understand that I meant someone HUMAN. And even though yes, it is very nice that Norbert(a) had a little dragonette of her own (and I'll be sure to let Hagrid know, he'll be ecstatic) you really do need to make some friends. I mean, you're 23 years old for Merlin's sake! And if you're even half as good with people as you are with your dragons (which I know you are!) you'll have people surrounding you in no time. That is, IF YOU ACTUALLY GO OUT ONCE IN A WHILE. But enough about you, let's talk about me._

_ Classes are going as well as they could possibly be going with that horrid Umbridge woman here. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think I might like Snape better than her. Yes, you read that correctly, I might actually (a teensy, tiny, miniscule bit) like Snape for once. Ginny's gagging across from me, but I know she agrees no matter how she might scoff at the idea (which she's doing now…why do I hang out with her again?) Other than that, everything is fine. _

_ On another note, Ginny is asking me to ask you whether or not you're going to be able to make it back for Easter Hols? Mrs. Weasley is insisting on throwing me a birthday party (that I'm not supposed to know about) even though my actual birthday has already passed (thank you again for the scarf and gloves, they're lovely). So if I am to be subjected to a riotous Weasley function, my favorite Weasley must be there, right? Scratch that, apparently I'm not allowed to say that because Ginny is supposed to be my favorite. Oh well, I'm much too lazy to blot it out now so just ignore that last bit. _

_ But you will come, no?_

_ Write back soon._

_ All my love,_

_ Leena_

Turning the stove off, the redhead picked up the kettle and absentmindedly poured the tea into the two emerald green mugs he had taken down from Leena's shelf. The mild scent of lemon hit his nose and he breathed in, thinking back to a memory he associated with the delightful smell.

_ Breathing in as he passed the line of desserts on the table, Charlie followed his nose over to the platter with small round cupcakes that smelled like lemon. Feeling his mouth water slightly, he picked one up and popped it into his mouth whole. If there was one thing a Weasley appreciated it was good food, and Charlie was no exception. He closed his eyes, savoring the lemony flavors mixing with the sugary coating on top. _

_ "I see you've gotten into the Blossoms." _

_ Charlie knew without turning that is was Leena who sounded so amused over the expression on his face. She came to stand next to him and grabbed a Blossom of her own, taking a generous bite out of it._

_ "They're my favorite, your mothers' Lemon Blossoms."_

_ "They aren't really hers' since you were the one who taught her to make them." _

_ She smiled at him before popping the rest of the treat into her mouth. _

_ "Hmm, but there is something about Mrs. Weasley's cooking that makes these little bits of heaven better than anything I could ever create."_

_ Charlie snorted at that, for he knew for a fact that her cooking was almost as good as his own mother's. The sound did not go unnoticed by Leena, but before she could comment, the rest of the party was spilling into the kitchen and Fred and George were chanting "CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!"_

_ After much shuffling and elbowing, everyone was piled into the small space. Leena had ended up being dragged over to the head of the table where her birthday cake sat, while Charlie had only been jostled a few feet away from the Lemon Blossoms. _

_ "Alright everyone, on three!"_

_ Charlie saw Leena roll her eyes slightly at Forge's antics, a slight smile on her face._

_ "THREE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! YOU LOOK LIKE GOOD OLD MERLIN! AND YOU SMELL LIKE HIM TOO!_

_ "FRED! GEORGE! Why would you sing something like that?!"_

_ Charlie shook his head at his brothers while behind him Bill was laughing uproariously at the fact that Mrs. Weasley was waving her rolling pin at the both of them. But Leena didn't seem to mind at all. She was half leaning on Ginny next to her and both girls were in tears over the song the twins had sung, enormous grins gracing their faces. _

_ Bill clapped a hand on Charlie's shoulder._

_ "They really are something else, those two, aren't they?"_

_ The redhead knew immediately that his older brother wasn't talking about the two being reprimanded by their mother, but the two who were now stealing swipes of the icing from the cake. And as he watched them, Leena looked up, her gaze meeting Charlie's. Her smile grew and she fluttered her fingers in his direction, raising her eyebrows in silent question._

_ It was then that Charlie felt it, the feeling he had started experiencing recently whenever something to do with Leena came up. The easy smile that crept over his face when he returned home to find her owl sitting on the windowsill; the eagerness he felt whenever he realized that she would undoubtedly be there to welcome him back to England along with his family every time he came to visit; the warmth he was feeling in the pit of his stomach that was spreading outwards at that very moment, watching her looking towards him. _

_Charlie continued to observe Leena, trying to put a name to the strange sensations that were running through him, but a few seconds later her attention was diverted by Ginny tugging on her arm. She looked away from him, turning towards her best friend and the moment was gone. The warmth, however, was still there. But for the life of him, Charlie couldn't put his finger on what it could be. Putting it out of his head, he swiveled to face his older brother. _

Grabbing the bowl of sugar down from the cabinet with the tea, Charlie carefully put one spoon into Leena's mug and one and a half into his own. Putting the tea and sugar back in their places, he bent down grabbing a tray from beneath the counter. Setting the mugs on the tray, he paused, thinking back to the night of the Final Battle, the whispered question Leena had asked him.

_Do you think everyone gets that kind of love?_

Charlie hadn't been able to answer her. Not only because she had fallen asleep in his arms right after she had finished her sentence, but because he truly did not know. His little sister and her lover's romance was one of legends. Not because everything was rainbows and butterflies—there were no unicorns prancing around through the meadows, as far he knew—but because their love, if tested, could move mountains. It was powerful in the fact that they would do anything for each other. Yes, they fought and had spats, but none of that mattered; their relationship had withstood the darkest of times, and it had only flourished in the best of them.

But, Charlie mused, love like that was hard. He hadn't been able to answer Leena then, and though it had been three years since that fateful night (and even though he was bloody 28 years old), he still hadn't been able to come up with a plausible answer. Sighing he thought about the foreign look that he had seen a little while before in the black haired girl's eyes. She had looked…broken. And Leena Lightle had never looked broken before.

Picking up the tray, Charlie prepared himself to go back into the other room and confront Leena about what had happened to her. And in that moment, he vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to put her back together. That broken look would not remain in her eyes. He would make sure of it.

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><p><strong>AN:** Please review! It only takes a few minutes! Just that little button, right down there! You can do it, I believe in you ;)


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